Shrimp Pasta Alfredo and Shrimp Dinner on March 2
Call for reservations, 727-849-7521

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Our Lady Queen of Peace Catholic Church Welcomes You

Serving West Pasco for 100 Years

Parish Mission StatementFormed by the Word of God, and nourished by the Sacraments, we the servant community of Our Lady Queen of Peace Catholic Church, blessed by our diversities, are bound in the Spirit by love, to reach out, respect, and embrace all people.

2018 Lenten Series
Faithful Pilgrims
Six Catholic Locations Which Have Attracted Millions of Pilgrims

In this six-week course, we will learn why prayer filled pilgrims have traveled since the time of Christ to religious sites around the world. We will learn how these locations can strengthen the faithful, inspire them, refresh them and bring them closer to God.

Classes will be in the Monsignor Foynes Hall Tuesdays from 9:30am to 11:00am beginning February 20. Call the parish office at 727-849-7521 to register for the class so that we may have copies of the materials ready.

There is no book required for the course. Participants are welcome to bring guests. There is no fee, but participants are encouraged to bring a non-perishable food item for the St. Vincent de Paul food pantry.

Bring along a cup of coffee or a bottle of water. You need not attend every class, come as your schedule allows.

Course instructor is Mary Palamar, Faculty Emerita of Nazareth College of Rochester, NY.

Feb. 20 Fatima, Portugal Virgin Mary Appears in 1917
Feb. 27 Elizabeth Ann Seton, Emmitsburg, MD First Native Born US Saint
March 6 Our Lady of Guadalupe, Mexico Virgin Mary appears 1531
March 13 Mont St. Michel, France First church built there in 708
March 20 Santiago de Compostela, Spain Tomb of James, the Apostle
April 4 Holy Land, Various Sites Where Christ Walked and Died

One of the ways to make your donation to the Annual Pastoral Appeal 2018 is through online giving.
Click the button below to be taken to that site.

Message from our Pastor

Dear Sisters and Brothers in Jesus Christ,

I got up very early this morning; sat in my chair as usual, simply looking out through my window. I could see swarms of geese flying in lines across the scattered colors of the morning sky. I wished that they would stop by my window to say a hello; but they didn’t. They didn’t even care about the busy people whom they might have seen down on their way. It amazed me that none of those geese got distracted; they all flew in line well focused, casting their shadows on this noisy world that lay beneath. I watched them vanish beyond the clouds. Those birds had goals in lives. They were self disciplined and had an air of confidence on their wings. I felt proud of them.

Wait a moment; I turned to myself. Do these geese have something to tell me this morning as I reflect on my Lenten journey? I read about some birds who could fly more than seven thousand miles at a stretch, a non-stop, non fueling flight! (These birds challenge us who struggle to fast a day or do any sort of sacrifice during this Lent. We say, Oh no, it’s unworkable.) If we are well focused, nothing is impossible. How marvelously God has created each one of us!

We are on a journey. Whether we like it or not the sun would rise and set down and it would mark that we journeyed a day. Before it is too late, before this journey ends, each of us has to ask a question to ourselves; where are we heading to? Asking the question, now let’s do a swap to another journey, the ‘Lenten Journey’ we have begun this Ash Wednesday. It is a walk with Jesus. We should know that Jesus’ presence in our lives makes our journey easy. I have the freedom to say yes to Jesus. I have the freedom to enter into a deeper intimacy with Jesus. I have the freedom to join those swarms of birds who were set out to achieve their goals.

Sometimes we are very much distracted in our lives. Even Jesus was distracted and tempted in his journey. Didn’t a moment come in Jesus’ life when he prayed to his Father, ‘let this cup pass from me’? There were moments when he fell down to the ground and struggled to get up. But Jesus journeyed, still they stuck him to the cross. He had the freedom to say ‘no’; but he didn’t; instead he ‘resolutely set his face to go to Jerusalem’ (his suffering, death and resurrection).

Now I know what I did see through my window; it was him, it was Jesus, whom I saw flying. They were not swarms of geese but were galaxies of saints who followed him faithfully ‘the Way’. What I saw was their celestial flight towards the ‘New Heaven and the New Earth’. I may fall, I may fail but I will rise up and fly; I will fly higher than before. I eagerly wait to spread my wings across this sky to join those clouds of saints.

I know every sound I hear will eventually go into silence. The Ashes on our forehead remind us that life is not a pilgrimage from dust to dust, but it is a journey from ashes to life. I am now few miles away from you, but spiritually I am with you and we together walk this ‘Lenten Journey’. May God hold your hand and keep you from falling.

We warmly welcome all of you to the first Catholic church in West Pasco County. Together with “Our Blessed Mother” we gather at the Table of her Son, Jesus to get nourished and to proclaim His message of love in words and deeds.

We invite you to be a part of our loving Community being present at our Eucharistic celebrations and other events. Every First Friday at 5.00 p.m. is our Family Dinner Time in the Parish Hall. We gather to know one another and to build up new friendships. This year we started the St. Lorenzo 5 Star Breakfast Buffet. Dates are published in the bulletin. You must try it as it is the "best in town".

Please visit this magnificent Church adorned with colorful stained glass entrance doors, windows, Carillon Tower, Stations of the Cross and the Doves of Peace; stay here in solitude to get blessings upon you and your family through the intercession of Our Blessed Mother.